


The Plague

by LilyK



Category: Starsky & Hutch
Genre: Gen, transcript
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:49:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29224983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilyK/pseuds/LilyK
Summary: Starsky and Hutch must race against time to stop an international assassin from spreading a deadly virus throughout the entire city.
Collections: Starsky & Hutch Original Series Transcripts





	The Plague


    THE PLAGUE
    
    Season 3, Episode 8
    
    Original Airdate: November 19, 1977
    
    Written by: William Douglas Lansford
    Created by: William Blinn
    Directed by: Bob Kelljan
    
    Summary:  Starsky and Hutch must race against time to stop an international assassin from spreading a deadly virus throughout the entire city. 
    
    Cast:

David Soul ... Det. Ken 'Hutch' Hutchinson

Paul Michael Glaser ... Det. Dave Starsky

Antonio Fargas ... Huggy Bear

Bernie Hamilton ... Capt. Harold Dobey

Janet Margolin ... Dr. Judith Kaufman

Frank Marth ... Dr. Meredith

Jean Allison ... Helen Yeager

Al Ruscio ... Roper

Alex Rocco ... Thomas Callendar

Patrick Labyorteaux ... Richie Yeager (as Patrick Laborteaux)

Paul Kent ... Lt. Anderson

Walter Mathews ... Lt. Jake Donner

Natalie Norwick ... Virginia Donner

David Scott Milton ... Doctor (as David Milton)

Ernesto Macias ... Waiting Man
    
    
    **Exterior - Day - Bay City Airport**
    
    STARSKY: You're crazy. 
    
    HUTCH: I'm telling you, I read it in the National Geographic.
    
    STARSKY: One hundred and forty-eight years old? Come on.
    
    HUTCH: This old village in Azerbaijan.
    
    STARSKY: Az... What?
    
    HUTCH: It's in Russia.
    
    STARSKY: Well, that's not for me. 
    
    
    Interior - day - Bay City Airport
    
    STARSKY: Give me good old city pollution. Live to 80, 85.
    
    HUTCH: Well, I'll take that 140 myself. 
    
    STARSKY: You're putting me on. What kind of life is that, huh? Without teeth, no booze, no, ah, you know what I mean.
    
    HUTCH: You know something, Starsk, you're really gross. There's a hell of a lot more to life than, "You know what I mean."
    
    STARSKY: Yeah, well, if there is, I don't know about it. You know what I mean?
    
    AIRPORT SECURITY WOMAN: Empty your pockets, please.
    
    STARSKY: What?
    
    AIRPORT SECURITY MAN: You heard the lady.  Hold it now. Just empty your pockets.
    
    STARSKY: Him or me?
    
    AIRPORT SECURITY WOMAN: The machine indicates that you have a large object or objects of metal on your person.
    
    HUTCH: Oh, really? 
    
    STARSKY: Oh. Wanna peruse my person, ma'am?
    
    HUTCH: Watch out for him, if you know what I mean.
    
    STARSKY: Okay.
    
    AIRPORT SECURITY MAN: That's enough of the fun and games. Just empty your pockets, gentlemen, please.
    
    HUTCH: This is all the metal you're gonna need?
    
    AIRPORT SECURITY MAN: Okay. We were just doing our job.
    
    HUTCH: Oh, very well, too. Very well.
    
    STARSKY: Keep up the good work, especially you, ma'am.
    
    HUTCH: What time did you say Jake's plane was due?
    
    STARSKY: Eleven. Why? What time is it?
    
    HUTCH: We've got plenty of time. It's 10.58.
    
    STARSKY: Yeah.
    
    HUTCH: Lieutenant. 
    
    DONNER: Hiya, fellas.
    
    HUTCH: Nice to have you back. Welcome home.
    
    DONNER: Thank you. Thank you.
    
    STARSKY: Welcome.
    
    DONNER: Hey, wait a minute. Now, it seems to me before I left, you used to call me Jake.
    
    HUTCH: Well...
    
    STARSKY: Well, we weren't too sure how much your European tour had affected you, Jake.
    
    DONNER: Well, you know, it was good seeing those Interpol people, but let me tell you something, you know, nobody over there knows how to make a good hamburger.
    
    MAN: Thief! Stop! Thief! Come back here! Halt! Hey! Thief! Thief!
    
    STARSKY: Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Look out!
    
    THIEF: Let go! Stay away from me, man! I'm a third-degree black belt!
    
    HUTCH: Oh, you gotta be kidding. 
    
    SECURITY OFFICER: Cut it out. Airport security.
    
    HUTCH: Take him away. He's yours.
    
    SECURITY OFFICER: Come on, move.
    
    
    **Exterior- Day - Bay City Airport**
    
    STARSKY: Hey! Hey! What are you doing? Hey, hey, that's my car. You're making a mistake. Wait a second. Wait a second.
    
    HUTCH: What happened to your hand, Jake?
    
    DONNER: Ran into some guy with long fingernails.
    
    STARSKY: Okay. All right. All right, I did park illegally, I grant you that.
    
    HUTCH: Well, I hope they tow this red tomato away for good.
    
    STARSKY: But can't you give a guy a break?
    
    TOW TRUCK DRIVER: You want me to play favourites just 'cause you're a cop?
    
    HUTCH: Yes, he does. I think one of your cables is loose here.
    
    STARSKY: Hey, look, do you mind? This is my car. I'll take care of this. Maybe we can arrange something.
    
    
    **Exterior - Day - Taxi Cab**
    
    CAB DRIVER: Sorry, mister. What was that address again?
    
    CALLENDAR: 165 Whitmore.
    
    CAB DRIVER: Could have sworn you said, uh, Witson. Whitmore. Whitmore. That's way other side of town, out in the boondocks. You're sure? Hey... You all right?
    
    CALLENDAR: Just drive. 
    
    
    **Interior - Day - Yeager House**
    
    CALLENDAR: Hi, I'm Steele. You have a room for me.
    
    HELEN: Oh. Yes, come in, please. I'm Helen Yeager. I'm sorry, I didn't expect you until this evening. Would you like a cup of coffee?
    
    CALLENDAR: Thank you, no.
    
    RICHIE: Mom. Oh, hi.
    
    HELEN: This is my son, Richie.
    
    RICHIE: Are you really from Canada?
    
    CALLENDAR: Why do you ask?
    
    RICHIE: Well, that's what the man told Mom when he called. He said you're from Montreal. My dad went to Canada, but he never came back.
     
    HELEN: Richie. I'm sorry. Richie doesn't meet many people. We're somewhat isolated here, as you can see. The gentleman who called said you're a writer, that you prefer privacy.
    
    CALLENDAR: Yes.
    
    HELEN: Would you like to see your room?
    
    CALLENDAR: Sure, I would...
    
    HELEN: Are you all right, Mr Steele?
    
    CALLENDAR: Yeah, I'm... fine. It's nothing. Just jet lag. I'll be fine.
    
    HELEN: Your room's right down the hall. I'll make sure that you're not disturbed.
    
    CALLENDAR: Thank you.
    
    
    **Interior - Night - Police Precinct**
    
    HUTCH: Now, look, I'm serious. If you knew you could live another 120 years...
    
    STARSKY: With vitamin E or without?
    
    HUTCH: There's no hope for you.
    
    STARSKY: Yeah? Well, you live forever, philosopher. Me, just give another 50 or 60 swinging years. Hey, here's Jake, the inter- What's the matter, Jake?
    
    DONNER: I don't know. I don't know what's going on. I just... I feel dizzy. I'm hot... I'm cold. Last couple of days, ever since I got home, I feel like my lungs are gonna burst.
    
    STARSKY: Well, maybe you picked something up over there.
    
    DONNER: Yeah, maybe.
    
    HUTCH: Hey, why don't you take a couple of days off, huh? Have a doc check you out.
    
    DONNER: Yeah, maybe... Maybe I will later on. I got a ton of paperwork I gotta catch up on. Take it easy, huh?
    
    STARSKY: You take it easy, Jake. Take it real easy.
    
    
    **Interior - Night - Hospital**
    
    VIRGINIA: You know what the worst thing about being a cop's wife is? It's waiting.
    
    HUTCH: Yeah.
    
    VIRGINIA: It's even the little things. It's waiting until he comes home for supper. Maybe some junkie stabbed him. It's waiting until he comes back from Europe. It's waiting until the doctor comes and tells me that my husband's gonna be all right.
    
    DOCTOR: I assume you're Mrs. Donner?
    
    VIRGINIA: Oh, yes, Doctor. What's with Jake? How is he?
    
    DOCTOR: Are you friends of the family?
    
    STARSKY: Yeah.
    
    VIRGINIA: Yes.
    
    HUTCH: Yeah.
    
    DOCTOR: Mr Donner died 12 minutes ago.
    
    VIRGINIA: No. No.
    
    DOCTOR: I'm sorry. 
    
    STARSKY: Of what?
    
    VIRGINIA: Oh, Hutch.
    
    DOCTOR: I suggest you take Mrs Donner to my office. Room 1211, down the hall. The nurse will have...
    
    VIRGINIA: I don't want a nurse. I just want my husband.
    
    HUTCH: Let's go down to the nurse, and then we'll take you home.
    
    VIRGINIA: Oh, Hutch. I want my husband, Hutch. I want my Jake...
    
    STARSKY: Of what?
    
    DOCTOR: We're not sure.
    
    STARSKY: A man dies just like that and you're not sure.
    
    DOCTOR: We could say he died of pneumonia, critical dehydration, kidney malfunction.
    
    STARSKY: You could... but you're not.
    
    DOCTOR: We don't know what brought on these ailments so severely as to kill the man in so short a time.
    
    STARSKY: Well, maybe he picked up some disease in Europe.
    
    DOCTOR: Well, we won't know that until after an autopsy is performed. If we're lucky.
    
    STARSKY: And if you're not?
    
    DOCTOR: Mrs Donner, you and your friend will all submit to a series of tests.
    
    STARSKY: What are you talking about? I'm fine.
    
    DOCTOR: My nurse and an attendant are waiting in my office. All three of you will be placed under quarantine until after the autopsy.
    
    STARSKY: Oh, wait a second, Doc. We're officers of the law. It's not necess-
    
    DOCTOR: Hey, don't pull your badge on me. I'm the law in this hospital, and until we find out what killed Lieutenant Donner, my responsibility is to keep you away from other people.
    
    STARSKY: Quarantine?
    
    DOCTOR: Tighter than your jails.
    
    HUTCH: Take one of these, huh?
    
    
    **Interior - Day - Hospital Quarantine Room**
    
    STARSKY: What's the score?
    
    HUTCH: Well, I got 51 games. You got 45.
    
    STARSKY: Come on. More.
    
    HUTCH: When you're hot, you're hot. When you're not, you're not.
    
    STARSKY: More. Guess who's here.
    
    HUTCH: Don't tell me.
    
    STARSKY: Oh, boy. Come on. Maybe we'll get lucky this time. 
    
    HUTCH: Some more food.
    
    STARSKY: Is that what they call it?
    
    HUTCH: Well, we gotta eat.
    
    STARSKY: Why?
    
    HUTCH: Must be some reason for it. Oh, look at this. Human beings without masks.
    
    STARSKY: Either you've got it too or we're cured.
    
    KAUFMAN: I'm Dr. Kaufman. This is Dr. Meredith.
    
    STARSKY: How do you do?
    
    HUTCH: It's a pleasure. My name's Ken Hutchinson, and this is...
    
    STARSKY: Starsky. Look, I'm about to go through that window unless you get me outta here real soon.
    
    KAUFMAN: How soon?
    
    STARSKY: How about now?
    
    KAUFMAN: Okay.
    
    STARSKY: Really?
    
    HUTCH: Are you really a doctor, or are you just beautiful?
    
    KAUFMAN: I'm just beautiful.
    
    HUTCH: Well, I think I'm in love.
    
    STARSKY: Can the small talk. Doctor, what's going on?
    
    MEREDITH: Well, we're from the DC headquarters.
    
    HUTCH: Washington?
    
    KAUFMAN: No. Disease Control in Alabama.
    
    STARSLY: You came all the way from 'Bama to spring us?
    
    MEREDITH: Well, epidemics don't respect geography.
    
    KAUFMAN: We understand that you were with Officer Donner at the airport?
    
    HUTCH: Yeah. Did Jake die from the plague or something?
    
    STARSKY: Excuse me, I'm having a severe case of claustrophobia. Can't we go someplace else and talk about his, hm? Okay, let's get to it.
    
    HUTCH: What did Jake die from?
    
    MEREDITH: Well, it's something that we don't understand.
    
    KAUFMAN: Yet. We do know it's highly contagious.
    
    STARSKY: How do you know we don't have it?
    
    KAUFMAN: We've observed you for 72 hours, we've taken blood, we've done everything we know.  There are no symptoms.
    
    MEREDITH: Now we can only conclude that you may not be infected.
    
    STARSKY: May not?
    
    HUTCH: But you're not positive?
    
    MEREDITH: No. 
    
    KAUFMAN: We can't be until we isolate the source of infection.
    
    HUTCH: Oh. In other words, that little sucker might be hanging around inside any one of us, huh?
    
    STARSKY: That's great. That's great.
    
    HUTCH: Okay, Doctor, what's our next move?
    
    KAUFMAN: We can sit and wait, or we can go out looking.
    
    STARSKY: For what?
    
    KAUFMAN: For everyone Jake Donner came into contact with since he stepped off that plane.
    
    STARSKY: That's next to impossible.
    
    HUTCH: Well, we can do that.
    
    STARSKY: We?
    
    HUTCH: Sure. I've always wanted to play doctor. 
    
    STARSKY: Especially with a doctor.
    
    HUTCH: Well...
    
    **Interior - Day - Dobey's Office**
    
    DOBEY: Where's Starsky?
    
    HUTCH: He had to make a stop down the hall.
    
    DOBEY: Here's where Jake's work took him his last 48 hours.
    
    KAUFMAN: Thank you, Captain. Now, may I have these gentlemen to work with me?
    
    DOBEY: That's the first time I've ever heard anybody call 'em gentlemen.
    
    KAUFMAN: We're assuming that someone or something may have transmitted the disease to Officer Donner after he landed. Our task is going to be to retrace his steps.
    
    DOBEY: That's like finding a needle in a haystack, you know that, don't you?
    
    KAUFMAN: Yes, I do. But if we don't find the source, we could be faced with an epidemic that could kill thousands.
    
    
    Exterior - Day - City Street
    
    HUTCH: There he is.
    
    HUGGY: Hey, what's the deal, man? It's bad enough I talk to you guys sotto voce, but you gotta hail me like I'm some kind of taxi?
    
    HUTCH: Huggy, this is Dr Kaufman. According to Jake Donner's sheet, he rousted Big Benny yesterday. Where is he?
    
    HUGGY: Hey, you want me to blow the whistle on Big Benny just like that?
    
    STARSKY: It's no joke, Huggy. What Jake died of might be contagious.
    
    HUGGY: I guess that's worse than a bad cold, huh? Big Benny was last seen taking numbers under Sara's shoeshine stand.
    
    STARSKY: Got it.
    
    HUTCH: Hey, Benny.
    
    BENNY: Why don't you guys give a man a break? I ain't doing nothing.
    
    STARSKY: Roll up your sleeve, Benny. We may be saving your life.
    
    BENNY: For what? I ain't been shooting up. I'm no junkie.
    
    HUTCH: Take it easy, Benny. This is Dr Kaufman. In case you're interested, she's a real live doctor who wants to save your life.
    
    BENNY: What are you talking about?
    
    KAUFMAN: You had contact with Lieutenant Donner?
    
    BENNY: Yeah. So?
    
    KAUFMAN: He died from a contagious disease. Just a sample of your blood will tell us whether you're positive or negative.
    
    BENNY: Just leave enough for a heartbeat.
    
    KAUFMAN: Okay.  We've seen 22 people. Six of them are already on the way to the hospital. How could one policeman have been so busy?
    
    HUTCH: He was one hell of a cop.
    
    STARSKY: Well, there's 23. Sister Magda? How you doing?
    
    MAGDA: I ain't no sister of yours, Mr Man. So bust me or trust me, but don't waste my time. 'Cause time is money, and my rent was due, like, yesterday.
    
    KAUFMAN: Magda certainly didn't appreciate that ambulance.
    
    HUTCH: She can't make her rent money in a hospital.
    
    STARSKY: Don't bet on it. This brings us almost to the end of Jake's DRs. So far we've interviewed 43 subjects. Twenty-five had definite contact with Jake. Eight possibles are in isolation. 
    
    KAUFMAN: And we still haven't found the carrier.
    
    HUTCH: Starsky. Crosswalk.
    
    KAUFMAN: Who is he?
    
    STARSKY: We collared him at the airport with Jake. We heard he jumped bail. We've been looking for him. He's not looking too good, is he?
    
    KAUFMAN: Uh-mm.
    
    HUTCH: Hold it, slick. I wanna talk to you.
    
    KAUFMAN: Don't touch him. Call an ambulance to tell them to get isolation equipment.
    
    
    **Interior - Day - Hospital Lab**
    
    MEREDITH: Would you people excuse us, please? Would you excuse us, please?
    
    KAUFMAN: Well, we found fluid in the lungs of Jake and the man who just died. Also severe liver and kidney damage with evidence of massive internal haemorrhaging. The virus literally destroyed 'em from the inside.
    
    MEREDITH: Then our killer's a virus?
    
    KAUFMAN: Well, I suspected as much when the antibiotics didn't work on the new cases.
    
    HUTCH: What about the people we brought in?
    
    MEREDITH: Well, we kept some of them  for further observation.
    
    KAUFMAN: Now, the ambulance attendant who brought in Lieutenant Donner and the nurse who attended him have both developed early but definite symptoms.
    
    KAUFMAN: What about their blood samples?
    
    MEREDITH: Definite signs of leucopaenia.
    
    STARSKY: What's leucopaenia?
    
    KAUFMAN: It's a low white-cell count.
    
    HUTCH: Doctor, am I wrong or is this thing gaining on us?
    
    MEREDITH: Alarmingly fast, both outside and right here in the hospital.
    
    KAUFMAN: He means that every hospital worker's a potential carrier.
    
    MEREDITH: Now, we think it's a virus, but what sort of virus? How does it kill, where does it start... 
    
    HUTCH: ...and how do we stop it?
    
    KAUFMAN: Operations. This is Dr Judith Kaufman, DC. I want this entire floor quarantined. And this lab is off-limits to all but authorised personnel. Yes.
    
    MEREDITH: This is Dr. Meredith. Have Dr. Phillips meet me in my office immediately. It's an emergency.
    
    MAN [ON PHONE]: Yes, sir.
    
    
    **Interior - Day - Yeager House**
    
    RICHIE: I heard him moan, Ma, a lot, and then something fell.
    
    HELEN: Mr. Steele? Mr. Steele? Is anything wrong? Oh, my God. Richie, call the doctor.
    
    CALLENDAR: No. No doctor.
    
    HELEN: He's burning up. Call the doctor, Richard.
    
    RICHIE: But he said no, Ma.
    
    CALLENDAR: Good boy. No doctor, please. No.
    
    RICHIE: He'll be all right, won't he, Ma?
    
    
    **Interior - Day - Bay City Airport Security Office**
    
    ANDERSON: We meet again. I'm Lieutenant Anderson, airport security. Yes, I took him down to the local precinct, they booked him, and then I heard he jumped bail. I've been looking for him. This is prime territory for dippers.
    
    STARSKY: You won't be seeing him. He's dead.
    
    ANDERSON: What happened?
    
    HUTCH: You were there when we made the collar, right?
    
    ANDERSON: I was there as soon as the guy yelled "thief". It's just that you guys move a lot quicker than me.
    
    HUTCH: Yeah, good. Look, I wanna ask you a couple of questions, but I want you to think about it. What did you see?
    
    ANDERSON: When exactly?
    
    HUTCH: From the moment the man yelled "thief" to... Did you see Jake?
    
    ANDERSON: Yeah.
    
    HUTCH: What did you see?
    
    ANDERSON: Well, I remember seeing Jake running across the lobby. Then he bumped into this guy with an attaché case. He rubbed his hand and then ran on.
    
    HUTCH: Wait a second, go back. You said he ran into a guy with an attaché case and then rubbed his hand?
    
    ANDERSON: That's right. 
    
    HUTCH: That's when he got cut. Not the collar.
    
    ANDERSON: It couldn't have been anything serious.
    
    STARSKY: Don't bet on it.
    
    HUTCH: Could this attaché case have cut him? Or maybe the guy's fingernails, something like that?
    
    ANDERSON: Yeah, I guess he could have, but, I mean, look, it was nothing.
    
    STARSKY: Was this guy a passenger?
    
    ANDERSON: He looked like maybe he was a passenger. What's the big deal, anyway? 
    
    HUTCH: How are you feeling?
    
    ANDERSON: Well, it's funny you should mention that.
    
    STARSKY: Why's that?
    
    ANDERSON: I, you know, feel a little weak, dizzy. I guess I'm just coming down with the flu.
    
    STARSKY: Look, Hutch and I got some things to do. We want you to go over to City Hospital right away. Look up a Dr Judith Kaufman. 
    
    
    HUTCH: When you get there, tell her we sent you, and tell her everything you know about Jake and this man. And don't waste any time doing it.
    
    ANDERSON: I'd still like to know what's going on.
    
    STARSKY: If Dr Kaufman gives you clearance, you meet us at police headquarters. Meantime, try to get a picture of this guy in your head. We'll try to put together a sketch of him.
    
    ANDERSON: Wait a minute, I can do better than that for you. 
    
    HUTCH: What do you mean?
    
    ANDERSON: Well, whenever any incident starts, my crew is instructed to switch on the security cameras. Now, those babies snap a picture every three seconds. If we're lucky, we've got it.
    
    **Interior - Day - Yeager House**
    
    RICHIE: Mama says you should drink a lot of fluids.
    
    CALLENDAR: What do you say, kid?
    
    RICHIE: You should drink it.
    
    CALLENDAR: 'Cause Mommy says?
    
    RICHIE: 'Cause then you'll get all better.
    
    CALLENDAR: Oh. Okay. Hey.
    
    RICHIE: Yeah? 
    
    CALLENDAR: Your sneakers are torn.
    
    RICHIE: I know. 
     
    CALLENDAR: Come here. Go out and get a new pair of sneakers. Get a flower for your mother.
    
    RICHIE: Thanks.
    
    CALLENDAR: This is me. Don't talk to me about late. Where's the firing pin? How much more? No, I'm not in a position to bargain. Mm-hm. Where and when? Yeah, be there.
    
    
    **Interior - Day - Hospital Lab**
    
    STARSKY: He's not just a hit man. He's the prince of hit men, he's an international soldier.
    
    KAUFMAN: You mean like a mercenary?
    
    STARSKY: Mm-hm. 
    
    HUTCH: This man doesn't need a war to kill anybody. He's called a pro. 
    
    STARSKY: I thought he was retired.
    
    HUTCH: His name is Thomas Callendar. And, according to Interpol, he travels in Europe a lot with beautiful people.
    
    STARSKY: And I'm stuck with you.
    
    HUTCH: Right.
    
    KAUFMAN: Do people like this really exist? 
    
    STARSKY: Yeah. He's a millionaire. Tied in with the international syndicate. Shot his way up through the ranks, literally.
    
    KAUFMAN: Well, he's the key to our epidemic.
    
    MEREDITH: Have you checked out the morgue? 
    
    HUTCH: Doctor, we have checked out the morgue, hospitals, clinics, jails. Zero.
    
    STARSKY: What strikes me as strange is that he came back at all. Hm? He's gotta know that we've got a make on him. Let's go.
    
    
    
    **Exterior - Night - Highrise Building Site**
    
    CALLENDAR: How you doing?
    
    ARMS SUPPLIER: You look like hell. What happened?
    
    CALLENDAR: I'll write you a letter.
    
    ARMS SUPPLIER: Your room all right?
    
    CALLENDAR: Yeah.
    
    ARMS SUPPLIER: I found it in the want ads.
    
    CALLENDAR: The missing firing pin.
    
    ARMS SUPPLIER: Okay. But first a small precaution, if you don't mind. It's right here. And let's not get funny, all right?
    
    CALLENDAR: Five thousand?
    
    ARMS SUPPLIER: I'm not greedy. It's just when I saw who the target was... I think I'm entitled to more, that's all.
    
    CALLENDAR: Aren't you gonna count it?
    
    ARMS SUPPLIER: I trust you. In this business, we all have to trust each other.
    
    CALLENDAR: Sure.
    
    ARMS SUPPLIER: Give my best to Roper.
    
    
    **Interior - Day - Dobey's Office**
    
    DOBEY: How's a syndicate boss like Roper connected with the plague?
    
    STARSKY: Word on the street is that Roper's trying to spread out, take over Stern's territory.
    
    DOBEY: Ah, you're stretching it.
    
    HUTCH: If we hear it, don't you think Stern wrote the book?
    
    STARSKY: Thomas Callendar flies in directly from Naples.
    
    HUTCH: And Stern, where do you think he's been for the last month?
    
    DOBEY: Naples?
    
    HUTCH: Give the captain a cigar.
    
    
    **Interior - Night - Hotel Room**
    
    STARSKY: We have further information through Interpol. It seems that Callendar dropped out of sight a couple of months ago. He's believed to have secluded
    himself in a villa in Marrakesh.
    
    MEREDITH: Morocco, North Africa. Dr Tejean.
    
    HUTCH: What?
    
    KAUFMAN: Dr Jonas Tejean. There was an outbreak of something like this in Morocco several years ago. Before he could document it, he was killed in an airplane crash. 
    
    MEREDITH: Let's see... Ah, here we are. Tejean's notes make mention of at least three outbreaks since 1942. Well, there are still more questions than answers, but at least it's beginning to make sense.
    
    HUTCH: Doc.
    
    MEREDITH: Time. Time is what we need. Time and this man, Callendar.
    
    KAUFMAN: He's probably dead already, judging from our other cases.
    
    MEREDITH: You're probably right, but if by some miracle he is still alive- (on phone) Dr Meredith. What? Yes. Yes, thank you. Thank you.
    
    KAUFMAN: What is it?
    
    MEREDITH: Fifteen new cases have been recorded. The disease is no longer contained; it's all over the city. Now, unless we can come up with a serum, we have an out-of-control epidemic on our hands.
    
    STARSKY: Well, old country saying: "If you can't find the hit man, go for the target."
    
    
    **Exterior - Day - In the Torino**
    
    HUTCH: Any more coffee in that thermos?
    
    STARSKY: It's in the trunk. This does happen to be my car.
    
    HUTCH: You ought to clean out the back.  It's a mess.
    
    STARSKY: It got that way because of you throwing your coffee cups in there. I'm getting tired of this. If Roper is the target, where's Callendar?
    
    HUTCH: Maybe he's looking for an opening.
    
    STARSKY: Or at the bottom of a lake in a concrete overcoat. If we were able to get a make on him, then Roper's gorillas would too. Maybe that's what checked his fever this long.
    
    HUTCH: Well, it's all we've got. You know, if Callendar is alive, Judith says he's beat it. Judith says his blood is manufacturing antibodies right now.
    
    STARSKY: Judith says?
    
    HUTCH: Yeah.
    
    STARSKY: You two are getting pretty tight. 
    
    HUTCH: It's Judith and Meredith.
    
    STARSKY: Oh.
    
    HUTCH: They think that there's an outside chance that maybe his body has developed a degree of immunity, maybe enough resistance to give him an edge.
    
    STARSKY: Grabbing at straws.
    
    HUTCH: It's all he's got. 
    
    STARSKY: Wait, wait, wait. I thought I'd finished that routine in the Army.
    
    HUTCH: You see there? That's what I mean.
    
    STARSKY: What?
    
    HUTCH: Well, if you knew you were gonna live for 100 years, you'd probably develop some patience.
    
    STARSKY: That's the dumbest thing I ever heard.
    
    HUTCH: Aw, come on. 
    
    STARSKY: Who wants to have 100 years to wait?
    
    HUTCH: You don't just wait, clown. You got time to think, to meditate, to explore new areas of your mind, you know.
    
    STARSKY: I'm gonna have to get you away from that National Geographic.
    
    HUTCH: Starsk.
    
    STARSKY: Hmm?
    
    HUTCH: Check that out.
    
    CALLENAR: How ya doing, baby? You got a...? Can I have a buck?
    
    STARSKY: That gorilla's gonna eat him up.
    
    MUSCLE: Beat it before you can't walk.
    
    CALLENDAR: Hey. OK. Jeez.
    
    HUTCH: Starsk. Look at that bum's feet.
    
    STARSKY: They're expensive looking. Callendar!
    
    HUTCH: I got him. Callendar! Hold it!
    
    (Car chase ensues.) 
    
    STARSKY: We had him.
     
    HUTCH: Well, at least we know he's alive.
    
    
    **Interior - Day - Hospital Lab**
    
    KAUFMAN: Are you just tired or is it something else?
    
    MEREDITH: I just confirmed the correlation of the contagion to the incubation period.
    
    KAUFMAN: That's something. How long?
    
    MEREDITH: Either it shows up in our blood samples within 72 hours or it's past.
    
    KAUFMAN: That's good. There is something else. What is it?
    
    MEREDITH: Yeah. I just rechecked the blood samples we've been holding.
    
    KAUFMAN: Who's infected?
    
    MEREDITH: Officer Hutchinson.
    
    KAUFMAN: Hutch? Are you sure?
    
    MEREDITH: Well, either we come up with an antitoxin or he has only a few days left on this planet Earth. (on phone) This is Dr Meredith in the lab. Would you set up an iso room for Officer Ken Hutchinson. We'll deliver him. What? Yes, he's here. All right, you can pick him up. 
    
    HUTCH: "All right, you can pick him up." Sounds like a piece of meat. You doctors are no better than cops.
    
    STARSKY: Are you sure?
    
    MEREDITH: Afraid so.
    
    HUTCH: What's that old line from the movies? Tell me straight, Doc. How much time have I got? 
    
    MEREDITH: About 48 hours before the symptoms appear. 
    
    HUTCH: What then?
    
    MEREDITH: Well, the incubation period'll be over. You'll be highly contagious. Your white-blood-cell count-
    
    HUTCH: Hey, save the medical talk, will you. You know what I'm saying.
    
    KAUFMAN: It means we have to find an antitoxin within two days.
    
    HUTCH: And if you don't?
    
    KAUFMAN: We've been trying to synthesise a serum with everything we know. So far we haven't come up with anything.
    
    STARSKY: Callendar's the key, right?
    
    KAUFMAN: Yes. His blood is producing antibodies right now. A serum from it would cut through all of our experiments and lab work.
    
    STARSKY: If I get Callendar, you can save Hutch? That's what I'm asking. Straight out, yes or no?
    
    KAUFMAN: Yes. 
    
    MEREDITH: If Callendar's still alive, he's past the crisis. He is the walking cure.
    
    HUTCH: Limousine service. I'll bet you ladies have a wardrobe change for me, huh?
    
    KAUFMAN: I'll be along to see you when you're settled.
    
    HUTCH: Fine.
    
    HUTCH: Why don't you nice ladies show me to my new quarters, huh? Marvellous talking to all of you.
    
    STARSKY: Hutch.
    
    HUTCH: Yeah?
    
    STARSKY: I'm gonna find Callendar.
    
    HUTCH: Well, do it, buddy, because I plan to be around for 148 years.
    
    
    **Interior - Day - Dobey's Office**
    
    STARSKY: If we don't find Callendar in the next couple of days, Hutch is a dead man. He's finished, gone.
     
    DOBEY: Every man that's not on an assignment's out there, including a few that shouldn't be.
    
    STARSKY: Yeah, well, we both know that's not enough.
    
    DOBEY: I don't have any choice, Starsky.
    
    STARSKY: Hutch doesn't have any choices either.
    
    DOBEY: Don't talk to me like I'm some cold-hearted bastard. I love Hutch as much as you do. What makes you think my gut's not being ripped apart?
    
    STARSKY: Hutch is dying.
     
    DOBEY: If Hutch has to die because I can't put the whole precinct on his case, because there are thousands of other lives that have to be protected, what the ever-living hell am I supposed to do? (on phone) Dobey. When? All right. What'd he say? Come on. All right, now, listen, you keep him there. Starsky'll be on the way.
    
    STARSKY: What?
    
    DOBEY: They found Callendar's car you and Hutch were chasing. Sideswiped a truck.
    
    STARSKY: And Callendar?
    
    DOBEY: The trucker says he went off into the fields. It's one mile up the coast, four miles off the turn-off.
    
    
    **Exterior - Day - Scene of Crash**
    
    STARSKY: What have you got?
    
    POLICE OFFICER: That's the car he was driving. We're dusting it for prints.
    
    STARSKY: Don't bother. We know it was Callendar that was driving it. What else?
    
    POLICE OFFICER: That's the truck driver over there. He has a problem.
    
    TRUCK DRIVER: Are you the guy they've been making me wait for? You know I'm a half a day late, a load short.
    
    STARSKY: What happened?
    
    TRUCK DRIVER: I already told the story three times. How many times do I have to repeat?
    
    STARSKY: One more time.
    
    TRUCK DRIVER: You know, you guys ought to get your act together...
    
    STARSKY: Listen, truck driver, and you listen good. I'm only gonna tell you once! What happened, clean, clear and now?
    
    TRUCK DRIVER: Well, this scram sideswiped me. He ran his car into the ditch. Then he got out. I was teed off-
    
    STARSKY: Save the editorialising. What happened? Facts.
    
    TRUCK DRIVER: So he started running. And I went after him faster than Jesse James on a train. You know what he did? 
    
    STARSKY: Pulled a gun on you.
    
    TRUCK DRIVER: You know what he did.
    
    STARSKY: And what did you do?
    
    TRUCK DRIVER: You must be kidding. A man pulls a gun, that's it. You got it, run, do what you want. Leave me alone.
    
    STARSKY: Anything else?
    
    TRUCK DRIVER: Yeah. When can I get back on the road?
    
    STARSKY: Now, hero. Sergeant. Get the men, will you. 
    
    SERGEANT: All right, men, fall in! Yo! Come on, move it!
    
    STARSKY: Okay. We've got a problem. We've got thousands of lives in danger, including a cop's, in a hospital, dying.  If we don't find Callendar in the next couple of days, it's goodbye cop, goodbye partner. Good partners are hard to come by. That's why every mother's son is going into that field, that's where Callendar went. Now, if you don't find him in those woods, I want you to go up into the next hill. If you don't find him there I want you to go around the bend to the next pasture. I want you to look under every rock, in every bush, up every tree. And when you get tired and wiped out, put your tails back in gear again, keep looking. Get moving. 
    
    SERGEANT: Move out. These were in the glove compartment.
    
    STARSKY: Okay, so he rented the car under the name of Mullins. I'll check it out. Probably be a dead end. All we know is that he abandoned ship here... He's probably sick and half dead. They're not gonna find him unless he passed out. Maybe he got a ride somehow.
    
    SERGEANT: How?
    
    STARSKY: How? How? I don't know. Maybe he jumped on the back of a farmer's truck, stuck out his thumb. He's a pro. They don't go down easy.
    
    SERGEANT: So if he got a ride, to where?
    
    STARSKY: You're full of interesting questions, Sergeant.
    
    SERGEANT: Just trying to help.
    
    STARSKY: Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get on your case. I'm just... I've got a partner who's dying a little bit with every tick of the clock. I got no answers.
    
    END (Part One)


End file.
